1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a seat belt support position adjusting apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as the adjusting apparatus) for adjusting the position of an anchor, a through-anchor or the like used in a seat occupant restraining seat belt system and thereby adjusting the support position of a seat belt, said adjusting apparatus having detecting means for detecting whether said adjusting apparatus is in its adjustable condition or in a condition in which it is fixed at a predetermined position and using the result of the detection, for example, for the control of the operation of the tension locking or reducing device (hereinafter simply referred to as the tension reducing device or the reducing device) of a retractor provided at another location.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, the adjusting apparatus has been used in a seat belt system to enable the seat belt to fit to the constitution of the belt wearer and thereby allow the seat occupant to wear the belt safely and comfortably.
However, where a retractor with the tension reducing device is provided at another location in the same seat belt system, if the creeping condition of the seat belt is changed by operating the adjusting apparatus after the reducing device has been operated, the amount of belt remaining in the retractor will be varied, or the belt will become slack and the function of the reducing device will not be impaired or the seat occupant restraining performance will be substantially reduced. For example, in the adjusting apparatus vertically provided on the center pillar of a vehicle, when a through-anchor for turning back the shoulder belt portion is moved upwardly, the belt is drawn out of the retractor and therefore, even if the usual belt wearing position is assumed, the belt is not taken up into the retractor to the memory position of the reducing device which is already in its operative condition, and thus the function of the reducing device is impaired and a pressure force is applied to the belt wearer. Also, when the through-anchor is moved downwardly, particularly in the case of a combination of it with a retractor with a tension locking device, the amount of belt moved downwardly is not taken up into the retractor but becomes slack and cannot effectively restrain the belt wearer.